Commissioner of Police Leslie James and Deputy Commissioner Maxine Graham have not proceeded on their accumulated leave ahead of their respective retirements as they have had to oversee already planned operations for the general and regional elections, President David Granger has said.
“We are in a very abnormal period of Guyana’s history and the Commissioner of Police was required to supervise a special operation to ensure there was no disturbance of the peace, [that] there was no disorder during the elections period and that is the reason why he is still at his post,” Granger said on Wednesday in response to questions about why they were still on the job.
“As you know, on Friday, sixth of March, there was violence in Region number Five and police had to be deployed. So there was a specific operation which had been planned for that election period and Commissioner Leslie James was required to remain at his post, but the leave that is due will be taken later. It is an administrative decision, not a decision about on any other legal or operational basis but an administrative decision to allow him to supervise the conduct of that operation,” he added.
